Outbreak Island: Pendulum
- August 22, 2022
- Tiny Magicians
- 10h median play time
Get on SteamMysterious island, crashed plane, underground complex, classified military research. Survive in a new atmospheric sandbox thriller and uncover the terrible secret of the disaster.
PC
Windows
Reviews
- The game has beautiful graphics and a well-designed atmosphere that enhances the survival experience.
- It offers a solid crafting system and base-building mechanics, providing players with a sense of progression.
- The game has potential for future updates and improvements, with many players expressing excitement for its development.
- There are significant bugs, including disappearing storage items and random zombie spawns that disrupt gameplay.
- The AI is poorly designed, with enemies often spawning too close to the player, making encounters frustrating.
- The gameplay feels repetitive and lacks depth, with quests often being dull and not engaging enough to hold players' interest.
- story51 mentions
- 14 % positive mentions
- 78 % neutral mentions
- 8 % negative mentions
The game's story is described as mysterious and intriguing, set on an unknown island, but many players find it lacking depth and engagement, often feeling like a collection of dull quests with vague objectives. While some appreciate the crafting and exploration elements, the overall narrative experience is hindered by technical issues, repetitive missions, and a lack of character development or meaningful interactions. Players express a desire for more immersive storytelling, clearer quest guidance, and a more dynamic world to enhance the narrative experience.
“A survival, base building game with a story you have to piece together.”
“This game is super fun, the story is great from how far I'm in it.”
“The tutorial is good and leads you like a story from point to point.”
“The quests are very vague in their description, and it seems strange to just follow waypoints; there is no challenge.”
“The world is vast but feels dead and empty unless it's raining. I'd like to suggest some NPCs like merchants and quest givers or boards.”
“This early into early access, Outbreak Island doesn’t offer much as far as story is concerned.”
- graphics30 mentions
- 53 % positive mentions
- 37 % neutral mentions
- 10 % negative mentions
The graphics of the game have received generally positive feedback, with many users praising their beauty, ambiance, and unique details that enhance the overall experience. However, there are calls for more customizable graphic settings to improve performance and reduce issues like blurriness and excessive brightness. While the visuals are appreciated, some players note that the game still feels in development due to various bugs and inconsistencies.
“The graphics are beautiful and I love the ambiance of the thunderstorms.”
“The graphics in the game are both unique and beautiful, and the world has a lot of curious details that will leave you wanting more.”
“I really like the dark feel of the game and the graphics are well done.”
“Change the graphics of the opponent roaming around; it's not scary.”
“Why is it so blurry even when I try ultra graphics? Please add more additional settings so I can turn off the blur or disable anti-aliasing.”
“Some games give me headaches (literally because of visuals), and this is one of those games.”
- gameplay26 mentions
- 15 % positive mentions
- 69 % neutral mentions
- 15 % negative mentions
The gameplay of Outbreak Island has received mixed reviews, with players appreciating the balance in survival mechanics but criticizing various aspects such as combat, base building, and AI pathing. While some find potential in the game, many express frustration over bugs, lackluster mechanics, and the need for significant improvements to enhance the overall experience. Overall, the game shows promise but requires substantial polishing to meet player expectations.
“I've been looking for a zombie game with survival mechanics and feel that Outbreak Island has a lot of potential!”
“Some games make the survival mechanic so intense that you have to search for food and water every 2 seconds, but I think there's a fair balance at this current stage.”
“Has a beautiful design; just needs some mechanical polishing. If you go to the woods from the start and gather and cook mushrooms, and save your canned food and apples, you'll have plenty of food. Also, never sleep; time management and resource management are very important early on until you have overflow.”
“The base building mechanics of the game at the time of writing this are pure unadulterated dog sh1t!”
“It's just an abomination of a game, horrible to play, janky audio, uninspiring gameplay, lack-lustre mechanics and terrible combat.”
“But the constant tasks, the easy AI, the weak weapons, the bland and tasteless world, and constricting building mechanics wasn't for me.”
- atmosphere9 mentions
- 44 % positive mentions
- 22 % neutral mentions
- 33 % negative mentions
The atmosphere in the game is generally praised for its impressive graphics and immersive qualities, particularly in creating a tense and oppressive environment. However, some users note inconsistencies, such as a lack of tension release and the presence of bugs that detract from the overall experience. Overall, fans of sandbox thrillers are likely to appreciate the atmospheric elements, despite some areas needing improvement.
“A real shame as the bunker is tense, atmospheric and had it not been for the lack of tension release.”
“If you are a fan of experiencing this whole atmosphere of these events, you will definitely enjoy this game.”
“The atmosphere is impressive, good management, good graphics, properly made interfaces.”
“It lacks atmosphere.”
“I think the atmosphere needs work.”
“If you are a fan of experiencing the atmosphere of these events, you will definitely enjoy this game.”
- stability8 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The game currently suffers from significant stability issues, with numerous bugs and glitches reported by users. While some see potential in its concept, the overall experience is marred by these technical problems, leading to frustration and a lack of enjoyment. Players are advised to try the free demo before purchasing, as the game's early access status contributes to its instability.
“What a trash game; this shouldn't be out yet as it has so many glitches.”
“It's really buggy at the moment.”
“Currently, the game is buggy, so expect fresh starts to happen.”
- monetization8 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
The monetization aspect of the game is criticized for misleadingly presenting itself as a full game when it is actually a demo or advertisement, which detracts from genuine titles and misleads consumers. This practice is seen as a harmful tactic to gain visibility without providing a complete product, raising concerns about the integrity of marketing strategies in the gaming industry. Overall, the monetization approach is viewed negatively, with suspicions of paid endorsements further undermining its credibility.
“While it might seem like an innocuous mistake, publishing demos and advertisements as if they are full games is misleading and in some ways harmful.”
“This advertisement is taking up marketing space and visibility that would be better made available to a developer that's done the right thing and created a full game.”
“Often developers may choose to incorrectly publish demo/advertisements as separate games as a cheap way to bypass paying Valve for marketing presence on the Steam front page, which may seem clever to them, but it's harmful behavior and it's not good for gamers.”
- music8 mentions
- 38 % positive mentions
- 25 % neutral mentions
- 38 % negative mentions
The music and sound design in the game have received significant criticism, with players noting a lack of background music and ambient sounds, which contributes to a dull and boring atmosphere. While some appreciate the initial soundtrack, the overall absence of eerie or engaging audio elements detracts from the experience, leaving it feeling incomplete and uninspired.
“I like the soundtrack a lot when you load in.”
“Solid game when you don't have anything else to play; need some music at least 7.5/10.”
“Style (visuals, music, sound).”
“Also, there aren't any apparent enemies during the daytime, plus there is no music or much ambiance, so it gets boring.”
“There is no background music at all, which makes it feel dull, boring, and bland.”
“However, a nonexistent soundtrack and barebones sound design leave much to be desired.”
- optimization6 mentions
- 50 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 50 % negative mentions
The game's optimization is a mixed bag; while some users praise its beautiful graphics and decent performance on high-end systems, others report poor optimization issues, including high CPU usage and inconsistent performance across different hardware setups. Overall, it shows promise for an early access title, but significant improvements are still needed.
“It's a beautiful game and the graphics are great, optimized well.”
“A game that is still in the early stages of development but already has good optimization.”
“Performance has been okay for me using my workstation with dual Xeon CPUs and Quadro graphics; worth a try, I would say, since it is free, so not much to lose but some time.”
“The game seems poorly optimized at this current time.”
“Seems to be poorly optimized as it kept my CPU pegged the entire time.”
“All varying in the performance to resources needed to run.”
- grinding2 mentions
- 0 % positive mentions
- 0 % neutral mentions
- 100 % negative mentions
Players find the gameplay enjoyable and not overly grindy; however, inventory management becomes a significant issue as items quickly fill up, leading to tedious exploration when returning to the greenhouse.
“Your inventory will very quickly fill up, making exploration a tedious chore.”
“Play was really fun and not super grindy, but every time I come back, my greenhouse and stuff in my chest are gone.”
